Piper Wanna Be

[James MacMillan]

James-

The confusion comes in because there are two things called the chanter. One is, indeed, the melody pipe in the bagpipes. The other is the practice instrument, a separate item totally from the bagpipes. All of your basic technique and early learning is done on the Practice Chanter. It allows you to learn just the fingering without having to simultaneously learn to blow and squeeze. After some time (several months to over a year, depending on teacher and student), you progress onto the full bagpipes. But you never stop using the practice chanter, as that's what you still learn all your tunes on, take along in the car to noodle while you wait for the shop to open, or sit in the park and play with while watching kids enjoying the fine weather.

The melody pipe on the bagpipes is the Pipe Chanter or Bagpipe Chanter and is not played as a separate instrument. It is part of the big contraption. The rest of the sound comes from the Drones, which are the three pipes up over the shoulder. They deliver that droning (go figure) sound like the world's biggest bumblebee singing along. There's a rather long scientific explanation of what the drone sound does to enhance the sound of the chanter, but the short of it is that the drone fills it out and makes it all work together.

This discussion so far has all been about the practice chanter.

Hope that clears it up. And I am not trying to talk down to you, I just have explained this recently to some second-graders so I have fun talking about it on simpler terms than I might use if you were here in person and I could get my pipes out and put them in front of you.

-Patrick

Hey Patrick - Thanks. You had to talk down to me, as that's where I am when it comes to the pipes. Your info answered a lot of questions, but also opened up a few more. Like:

Are the drones tunable? Can the piper select different drones. Tenor, base, baratone etc? Do you also "play" the drones? When I listen and enjoy pipe music, my ear sometimes seems to hear different harmonies.

And if you don't have time to answer, is there a info site I could go to? When I google Bagpipes, I don't find any grass-roots info.

[highlander_Daz]

heres an excelent website with most subjects covered

http://www.bagpipejourney.com/

take yout pipeing slowly, dont worry about pipes until you get to grips with a practice chanter

[James MacMillan]

heres an excelent website with most subjects covered

http://www.bagpipejourney.com/

take yout pipeing slowly, dont worry about pipes until you get to grips with a practice chanter

Thanks a bunch!